Turn Back the Dial (to the 90s): A 19 Arnold Playlist

[Editorial Note: The title and introduction will not make sense to many but follow me for a brief diversion and explanation will follow. I promise.]

Dear 19 Arnold,

Yes, it’s me. I know, I know. It’s been quite some time. How are things holding up these days? Is the second floor porch still standing? I always worried on those long, late nights that you were a little top-heavy and one day we might all slide off the balcony down College Hill and into the river. Well fortunately we didn’t. Hopefully, nobody else did. So I know it’s been quite some time and I’ve been delinquent in my visits. You know, life starts to happen and then you find yourself a decade later wondering, “How’d I end up here?”. Well, okay, in all fairness, if you are still standing, you really couldn’t go anywhere. But, still you understand my point in the figurative sense. I hope.

So here’s what I got for you in return: a mix to remind you of the good old days, well that is how I remember them. Hopefully, you found them a not unpleasant time. You were always gracious in allowing us to host countless friends, whether in snow, sleet, rain, or a combo of them all – that pre-Hurricane party I think scared the storm away. Plus, did you imagine how many interesting folks and fecund minds would rest, relax and call your (tear-)stained wood floors, rickety staircase, and crooked-frame exterior home? I bet you didn’t think you’d be watching them act on, write for and talk news on your TV screen (or if you could I’m sure you’d go see them on stage too, but it just really a long way)? Pretty cool, right? But don’t forget the savvy business folks, the dramatic professors, the politically consciousness organizers and perpetual vagabond wanderers that you hosted, too. Now, look the playlist isn’t perfect or all inclusive – that would take way too many songs. But, these are songs of the era during which we happened to call you walls home and will always remind me of you. Perhaps there are songs missing. You should jog my memory.

For those who are totally baffled, the above “letter” is addressed to a rather raggedy house that I along with countless friends called home for many years during college. The playlist is a collection of songs almost exclusively from the late ’90s and early ’00s that coincided with our tenures in its walls. Although the mix may resonate more with the tenants and visitors to 19A, it’s my hope that the playlist is a pleasant trip down memory lane for all — a mini time capsule of indie, punk, pop-punk, Emo/core and a smattering of other genres here and there.

Back tomorrow with less nostalgia and more new music!

[p.s. apologies for any glaring typos… rushing to make a plane will fix post haste.]